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Drone Hunters
An eagle captures a drone during a training exercise at Mont-de-Marsan Air Base in France.
The French military has a new weapon to deal with the emerging terrorist threat from drones. Airmen at the Mont-de-Marsan Air Base in southwestern France are training four eagles to intercept and disable the remote-controlled flying machines. French officials say eagles are perfect for the job because they can spot drones from thousands of yards away and can dive for prey at up to 150 mph. The French have been increasingly concerned about drones since a recreational one flew over the presidential palace in Paris and into restricted military airspace in 2015. Several drones have also been flown near airports in France. Terrorist groups such as ISIS have experimented with weaponized drones in Iraq, where a small craft recently dropped an explosive on Iraqi soldiers. The eagles will allow the French government to stop a drone without having to shoot it down, which could endanger civilians. So what happens when an eagle meets a drone up close? “Eagle feet are much more powerful than our hands,” says Todd Katzner, a biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey. “An eagle could break a drone like you or I could snap a toothpick.”